Nuclear physics Flashcards
History of nuclear physics
- Democritus - came up with word ‘atomos’ (atoms)
- Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier; Age of Enlightenment.
- John Dalton; father of modern atomic theory
- JJ Thompson: Plum Pudding diagram
- Ernest Rutherford - Rutherford’s Scattering experiment; firing alpha particles at a very thin gold foil (one atom thick) in a vacuum. Scintillator (machine which lights up when atoms hits it) is placed behind.
About 1/8000 particles deviated away from in line with gold foil. 1/15-20000 not detected.
This is because some bounced back - something very small and dense must be at the center of the atoms. It must be very positive to bounce back from a positive alpha. This was the discovery of the nucleus. Particles which deviated away from the gold foil had a slight deflection as they were slightly repelled by the +ve nucleus.
Conclusions:
Nucleus is tiny, positive and most of mass of atom is concentrated.
Most of atom is empty space.
The closer things are to one another…
…the greater the force of repulsion
When is all kinetic energy transferred to electric potential energy
Graph for when electrons are attractive/ repulsive
Draw the diagram and graph showing electron diffraction
Half life def
The time taken for the number of unstable nuclei to fall to half its original value
What type of nuclear substance is good for inserting into the body and why
Technetium 99:
- suitable half life of 6 hours, so technetium will have lost radioactivity in a small enough amount of time.
- non-toxic
- gamma emitter
- suitable energy of gamma rays: not too energetic ( would cause damage), but energetic enough to measure on a gamma camera
What factors must be considered when choosing a nuclear substance to inject into someone
- non-toxic
- gamma emitter
- suitable energy of gamma rays
- suitable for job you wants (e.g will it go to e.g kidneys)
Draw an energy level diagram for molybdenum to technetium to rubidium
Half life def
The time taken for the number of unstable nuclei to fall to half its original value
What is one atomic mass unit (1u) equal to
1/12 of the mass of a neutral carbon atom
What is the mass defect/ binding energy
the difference between the mass of a nucleon in theory and the actual mass measured
- equal to The energy released when the nucleus forms
- equal to the energy required to separate the nucleons in the nucleus (typically in MeV)
What is the highest binding energy per nucleon (from the binding energy curve) possible and for what element is this from
8.8 MeV - from Iron 56
What is the most stable element and why
Iron 56 - this element requires the largest amount of energy to separate the nucleons in the nucleus (highest binding energy per nucleon)
Draw and label a diagram of the binding energy table
what is the difference between stable and unstable nuclei
- The most stable nuclei have roughly the same number of protons as neutrons
- If there were too many protons, then the repulsive force created by them all having the same positive charge, would cause the nucleus to repel when it becomes very large
- Therefore, if a nucleus has an imbalance of protons or neutrons, it is more likely to decay into small nuclei until it gets to a stable nucleus with roughly the same number of each
what does it mean and what is the issue with a nucleus being too heavy
- If an nucleus is too heavy, this means it has too many protons and neutrons
- The forces in the nucleus will be weaker in keeping the protons and neutrons together
- This can also cause the nucleus to decay
what happens to the mass number and atomic number in alpha decay
The mass number decreases by 4
The atomic number decreases by 2
Describe alpha or beta decay and draw a diagram of alpha decay
what happens to the mass number and atomic number in beta decay
- mass number of the decaying nuclei remains the same
- Electrons have an atomic number of -1
This means that the new nuclei will increase its atomic number by 1 in order to maintain the overall atomic number before and after the decay
what happens to the mass number and atomic number in gamma decay
Gamma decay does not affect the mass number or the atomic number of the radioactive nucleus, but it does reduce the energy of the nucleus
mass defect def
The difference between an atom’s mass and the sum of the masses of its protons and neutrons
what does the mass defect imply about the difference in mass between separated nucleons and a system of bound nucleons
A system of separated nucleons has a greater mass than a system of bound nucleons
binding energy def
The amount of energy required to separate a nucleus into its constituent protons and neutrons
nuclear fusion def
The fusing together of two small nuclei to produce a larger nucleus
describe the forces involved in nuclear fusion
- For two nuclei to fuse, both nuclei must have high kinetic energy
- This is because nuclei must be able to get close enough to fuse
- However, two forces acting within the nuclei make this difficult to achieve:
- Electrostatic Repulsion - Protons inside the nuclei are positively charged, which means that they electrostatically repel one another
- Strong Nuclear Force - The strong nuclear force, which binds nucleons together, acts at very short distances within nuclei. Therefore, nuclei must get very close together for the strong nuclear force to take effect
why must fusion happen in an extremely hot environment
because it takes a great deal of energy to overcome the electrostatic and strong nuclear forces
nuclear fission def
The splitting of a large atomic nucleus into smaller nuclei
describe how nuclear fission occurs and how a chain reaction may occur
- Fission must first be induced by firing neutrons at a nucleus
- When the nucleus is struck by a neutron, it splits into two, or more, daughter nuclei
- During fission, neutrons are ejected from the nucleus, which in turn, can collide with other nuclei which triggers a cascade effect
- This leads to a chain reaction which lasts until all of the material has undergone fission, or the reaction is halted by a moderator
why do nuclei with a low binding energy per nucleon tend to undergo fusion
- they are the most unstable and likely to undergo fission
- Repulsive electrostatic forces between protons begin to dominate, and these forces tend to break apart the nucleus rather than hold it together
why do nuclei with a high binding energy per nucleon tend to undergo fusion
- have weaker electrostatic forces and are the most likely to undergo fusion
- Attractive nuclear forces between nucleons dominate over repulsive electrostatic forces between protons
does fusion or fission release more energy
Fusion releases much more energy per kg than fission
when does induced nuclear fission occur
When a stable nucleus splits into small nuclei from the bombardment of a slow-moving neutron
what are neutrons involved in induced nuclear fission also known as and what are their characteristics
- thermal neutrons
- Thermal neutrons have low energy and speed meaning they can induce fission
- This is important as neutrons with too much energy will rebound away from the nucleus and fission will not take place
how many thermal neutrons are needed for a chain reaction
just one
critical mass def
The minimum mass of fuel (fissionable material) required to maintain a steady chain reaction
what happens when more or less of the critical mass is used
Using less than the critical mass (subcritical mass) would lead the reaction to eventually stop
Using more than the critical mass (supercritical mass) would lead to a runaway reaction and eventually an explosion
what is the purpose of a moderator
To slow down neutrons
how does a moderator work
- The moderator is a material that surrounds the fuel rods and control rods inside the reactor core
- The fast-moving neutrons produced by the fission reactions slow down by colliding with the molecules of the moderator, causing them to lose some momentum. The neutrons collide elastically.
- The neutrons are slowed down so that they are in thermal equilibrium with the moderator, hence the term ‘thermal neutron’
- This ensures neutrons can react efficiently with the uranium fuel
- Graphite and water are commonly used for moderators
purpose of a control rod
to slow down neutrons
how does a control rod work
- The number of neutrons absorbed is controlled by varying the depth of the control rods in the fuel rods
- Lowering the rods further decreases the rate of fission, as more neutrons are absorbed
- Raising the rods increases the rate of fission, as fewer neutrons are absorbed
- This is adjusted automatically so that exactly one fission neutron produced by each fission event goes on to cause another fission
- In the event the nuclear reactor needs to shut down, the control rods can be lowered all the way so no reaction can take place
- Boron and cadmium are commonly used for control rods
purpose of the coolant
To remove the heat released by the fission reactions
how does a coolant work
- The coolant carries the heat to an external boiler to produce steam
- This steam then goes on to power electricity-generating turbines
how are nuclear reactors stopped from giving workers exposure to radiation
- The fuel rods are handled remotely ie. by machines
- The nuclear reactor is surrounded by a very thick lead or concrete shielding, which ensures radiation does not escape
- In an emergency, the control rods are fully lowered into the reactor core to stop fission reactions by absorbing all the free neutrons in the core, this is known as an emergency shut-down
what are the three types of nuclear waste
Low level
Intermediate level
High level